Book 1, Water: Chapter 16, The Unholy Alliance
by justanotheravatarfan
Summary: The Avatar and Prince Zuko form an alliance as they head for the North Pole. But Katara’s and Zuko’s apparent animosity towards each other endangers the new partnership. ZukoXKatara


**Author Notes – Please Read!** Here's a new version of Chapter 16 with a new ending, some icebergs (which should be there, since they are approaching the North Pole & I forgot about the danged things the first time), and a few quick fixes. I also divided it into two stories because the dialogue was running too long.

There are two stories that come before this one. _Book1, Water: Chapter 14, The Encounter _and _Book 1, Water: Chapter 15, The Traitor_. Please read them first. Since I'm experiencing severe _Avatar_ withdrawals and can't possibly face the lack of forthcoming new episodes after all the excitement of the latest _Blue Spirit_ chapter, I'm making some new episodes up myself!

**Ooooops:** In my last chapter, I mistakenly referred to the officer requesting orders from Zuko as the "Captain" when he is actually the "Lieutenant" who confronted Zuko during Episode 12, _The Storm_.

Also, when I posted the first version of this story, a reviewer told me that all the dialogue crammed into the paragraphs and my use of ALL-CAPS instead of italics to create emphasis was making things hard for folks to read. I'm too lazy to change my ALL-CAPS to italics, but I did space things out a bit, and will seriously consider italics in the future. If any of you feel strongly about this, please let me know what you think!

**Standard Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the _Avatar_'s world, but it has become an integral part of my mental landscape and I hope to write a story as wonderful as this one someday.

**Many Thanks To:** The folks from Nickelodeon for creating this show; The _A Distant Horizon _fan site for all the helpful background information, trivia, screenshots, artwork and links to other _Avatar_-related sites; and my fellow _Avatar_ fan-fic writers – Booter-Freak in particular – whose stories have given me hours of reading enjoyment, ideas & inspiration. I am also grateful to those of you who have given me reviews, encouragement and helpful hints.

_**SUMMARY:** The Avatar and Prince Zuko form an alliance as they head for the North Pole. But Katara's and Zuko's apparent animosity towards each other endangers the new partnership. ZukoXKatara_

**Chapter 16: The Unholy Alliance (Book 1, Water)**

Sokka guides Appa as Katara sits in a corner with her arms wrapped around her knees glaring furiously at Aang. The poor boy sadly hangs his head, periodically casting imploring glances towards Katara.

Sokka finally breaks the silence and demands, "Will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?"

Katara furiously brandishes her necklace, and spits out, "He gave it back to me. So why not ask AANG for some more information about our supposed RESCUER?" and glowers upon the hapless Avatar. The three of them think back to their adventure with the pirates and remember that Zuko had somehow got hold of the necklace that Katara had lost on the prison ship.

Meanwhile, rough waves slap against the icebergs and the small, blue ship following below. "The water seems choppy for such beautiful, calm day," comments Uncle Iroh. A smile tugs at the corner of Zuko's mouth as he muses, "Perhaps the water girl is angry with her companions."

The older man chuckles and remarks, "Good, you're finally developing a sense of humor, Prince Zuko." Zuko lifts a startled eyebrow. He didn't realize he had said something funny.

Aang holds out his hands in self-defense and cries, "Okay, okay, I'll explain. Remember that night when the Fire Nation captured me? I couldn't have gotten away without Prince Zuko's help…" he then launches into the amazing story of their escape from Admiral Zhao's dungeon.

"So, then what happened?" Katara and Sokka inquire breathlessly.

"Well, I tried to make friends with Prince Zuko, but … um … he shot a flame at me and I left." The siblings suddenly scowl darkly as Aang's cheeks turn crimson with embarrassment. Then he softly whispers, "But … but … I didn't feel like he really meant it."

Sokka raises a skeptical eyebrow while his other eyebrow continues scowling, and crisply sums up his take on the situation, "So … Zuko rescues you, you save his life, he attacks you, and now you're best buddies? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe he just wanted to bring you to the Fire Lord himself instead of letting Admiral Zhao get all the glory?"

The innocent expression on Aang's candid, mobile little face betrays the fact that this indeed had NOT occurred to him, but he stammers on lamely, "B-but … it really felt like something had … somehow … changed. And Zuko DID bail us out this time."

Katara chimes in, "For once, I agree with Sokka, Aang."

Aang protests, "But even YOU said the other night that maybe he won't bother us for a while."

Katara snaps, "Well, that's not the same as saying Zuko's on our side! He probably just realized from the other night that you've been training Sokka and me and needs to back off until he figures out a way to deal with all of us."

"Yeah," Sokka adds, "They probably don't have much experience with waterbenders. And as far as I'm concerned," he adds grimly, "The only GOOD firebender is a DEAD firebender."

Katara shivers as she remembers her various encounters with the menacing Prince Zuko. Then she recalls experiencing very different feelings towards him a few hours ago when he was still the dashing, mysterious rescuer gently placing what had turned out to be the necklace in her hands. A blush rises to her cheeks and that makes her feel even more infuriated than before.

She angrily banishes that moment from her mind and declares, "You KNOW Sokka's right. We can't trust a Firebender. Who knows WHAT Zuko's up to?"

Aang thinks for a minute, then argues, "That sage in Avatar Roku's temple helped us and HE'S a firebender. Avatar Roku was also a firebender. And people do change sometimes." Aang's face lights up and he points an exclamatory finger towards the sky, "Maybe Zuko isn't REALLY bad. Maybe he'll turn GOOD."

The siblings start snickering and Aang hangs his head in shame

"But seriously, guys," the Avatar continues, "We HAVE to try and work with Prince Zuko. He's our only chance. I mean, the three of us _are no match for the Fire Nation_ …" Katara shudders as she remembers Zuko hissing those same exact words to her, "… And SOMEONE's got to teach me firebending."

"But," protests Katara, "According to the legends, you're supposed to first master Water, then Earth, and THEN Fire."

Aang responds with an uncharacteristic bitterness that startles his companions, "Yeah, but then again, I wasn't supposed to be told I was the Avatar until I turned 16, and I wasn't supposed to be stuck in an iceberg for 100 years, and the Fire Nation wasn't supposed to be taking over the world."

Katara's eyes fill with tears as she moves closer to the Avatar and tenderly embraces him. "I'm sorry, Aang," the girl apologizes. "I won't interfere with your, um, relationship with Prince Zuko. Though I still don't think I could ever trust him."

Sokka growls, "I second that. One false move and my sister and I are ON him like a flying lemur on water rats." Momo, their pet flying lemur, gleefully coos and chirps at the compliment.

Katara recalls Zuko's predatory eyes of flaming gold burning into hers and shakily mutters, "Hopefully, he won't be ON us first."

The sun rises brightly over the waterscape. "Look!" Katara cries and points towards the glowing pink, gold and blue icebergs looming in the distance, "We're almost at the North Pole!" Aang rolls over on his stomach and sees the small, blue ship chugging along below. He spies a slim, black-clad figure accompanied by an older, stockier man on deck and waves gaily to them. The two men wave back. Sokka and Katara gasp in horror as Aang suddenly yanks Appa's reins and the giant, flying bison swiftly dives towards the ship.

When Appa lands on the deck, Aang jumps nimbly onboard, cocks his head, looks Zuko straight in the eyes and tries to act tough as he sharply inquires, "Okay, Prince Zuko, what's the deal?"

His former antagonist forthrightly answers, "I'll help you gain your full powers as Avatar, and you help restore me to my throne when we fight Fire Lord Ozai." Iroh casts a significant glance at Zuko and the adolescent fire prince bows his head in a not-entirely convincing gesture of respect, and adds, "When we win, I promise to help you restore the balance between elements."

A spark of doubt flickers in Aang's clear gray eyes, "B-but," the boy stammers, "Isn't the fire lord your father?"

The fire prince's face pales as he glares at Aang and two small flames ignite from his clenched fists. Then he sharply demands, "Do we have a deal or not, Avatar?" Aang beams at Zuko and Iroh, and cheerily replies, "Okay!"

He then waves to Sokka and Katara, who peer down at them from atop Appa, and says, "C'mon, guys!"

Sokka and Katara reluctantly climb down. Then Zuko glances at Katara's necklace, meets her eyes with his, and makes an awkward attempt towards a smile that comes across as a knowing smirk. With a furious glance at Zuko, the girl tilts up her chin, turns on her heel, climbs back onto Appa and ducks behind his saddle.

Sokka clambers after his sister and demands, "What's the MATTER with you, Katara?" The girl rolls her eyes upwards and drags her hands down her cheeks so hard that her eye sockets show, and whispers, "I CAN'T go down there, Sokka …"

A mortified blush spreads over her face. "He thinks I … he thinks I …"

Sokka bursts out laughing, "Oh, come ON, Katara!" But the girl rolls over onto her stomach, buries her head in her folded arms, and cries, "Noooooo!" in a muffled whine. "Girls …" mutters Sokka as he rejoins the others.

"But," Aang inquires with a puzzled frown, "What's up with Katara?" Sokka scratches his head awkwardly and replies, "Um, I don't think she's feeling well, Aang."

Zuko's jaw tightens, and a hint of amusement twinkles in Iroh's eyes as he quickly changes the subject, "Let's not forget our manners, Prince Zuko," the older man suggests, "Perhaps our honored guests would enjoy a tour of our ship. We can then have a nice bowl of noodles for breakfast and begin Aang's training."

The four of them later return to the deck and Iroh says, "Let's begin." Sokka joins in and soon even manages to hold his own against Zuko during a sequence that doesn't involve fire. "You're catching on!" Iroh smiles encouragingly, and even Zuko glances at the Water Tribe boy with a look of begrudging respect.

Suddenly, Aang pipes up as a small flame shoots out from his hand, "Hey, this is really neat! What games do you play with this?"

Zuko casts a severe glance at Aang and replies, "Games?"

Aang enthusiastically continues, "Yeah, like the way we used to play airball and ride the air scooters!" The boy conjures up an air scooter and starts flying around the deck, the metal surfaces of the ship echoing with his laughter.

When Aang finally returns and jumps off his scooter, Iroh remarks, "One cannot play with fire, Avatar." "I'll find a way," the Avatar cheerily replies. "Enough of your proverbs, Uncle!" Zuko interjects.

Aang faces his left palm up, holds his right palm parallel above the left one, and conjures up a small, spinning circle of fire. A huge, mischievous smile of glee scrambles across his face, but is quickly replaced with a grimace of pain. "OUCH!" the boy cries as his hands fly apart and the flame disappears.

Iroh smiles, rubs his hands together, and nods in the manner of a sage, as he retorts, "It is no proverb, Prince Zuko."

But Zuko frowns at Aang and snaps, "This isn't about fun and games, Avatar. You NEED to be more aggressive. You'll never master firebending when all you want to do is play and avoid HURTING people."

"But," Aang objects, "How do I make myself want to hurt someone?"

"Why don't you ask your friend, Katara?" Zuko spits out, "SHE doesn't seem to have a problem with that!"

Sokka rises to Katara's defense, "Hey! Don't talk about my sister that way!"

An indignant voice from above cries out, "I HEARD that, Zuko! And I don't need YOU to stand up for me, Sokka!"

A tiny cloud forms above Zuko's head and drenches him with rain. Aang, Sokka and Iroh roar with laughter as Zuko glares daggers in Katara's direction.

Suddenly the ship's lieutenant appears and inquires, "There's a storm coming, Prince Zuko. What are your orders, Sir?" Everyone, including Katara, glances up at the skies – they hadn't noticed the gathering thunderclouds and increasingly rough waves.

Two flames sputter from Zuko's fists as he snarls, "Get that WATER WITCH off my ship! NOW!"

Incensed, Katara lithely climbs down from Appa's back, stomps towards Zuko, scowls at him, and snaps, "I'm not doing it, you moron! Though maybe I would TRY if WE weren't here too!"

Zuko's eyes blaze and he barks, "You need to learn how to control your temper, Katara."

The girl arches up her eyebrows as she coolly retorts, "And what would YOU know about controlling your temper, Prince Zuko? You're so arrogant. I can't believe the way you order people around all the time! Where I come from, we would NEVER talk to our elders like that! But I guess royalty from the Fire Nation has no respect for anything or anyone!"

The girl's eyes spark furiously like northern lights dancing on blue ice. For a moment, Zuko remembers the admiring twilit glow he had seen in those eyes just yesterday and wishes she would look at him like that again.

He abruptly dismisses that thought and sneers, "So, this is how you treat someone who saved your life?"

"Hah!" Katara laughs defiantly, "Maybe when you've SAVED our lives as many times as you've THREATENED them, THEN I'll make nicey-nice with you!"

For the second time, Iroh intervenes and swiftly moves between the young combatants, "Now, now, boys and girls … perhaps we will feel better after a nice, calming cup of ginseng tea and some dim sum." Katara realizes she is famished, as Iroh goes on, "We may not all like one another, but we all must get along. After all, we are on the same side now."

Katara instantly warms up to Iroh. His caring, gentle, playful ways combined with his underlying force and competence remind her sadly of her own father. But her eyebrows knit together doubtfully and she resentfully mutters, "Being trapped in an igloo with a pride of snow panthers that don't happen to be HUNGRY right now is NOT the same thing as having them on my SIDE."

Iroh chuckles and places a reassuring arm around the girl's shoulders. "Well said, dear girl. But I assure you that my word is my honor, and that I am fully capable of upholding my honor – and hence yours – in any gathering." She looks him suspiciously in the eye as he continues on, "We are also drawn towards you and the Avatar by self-interest as well as personal inclination. We can talk about this later. For now we need to eat something. That storm looks pretty bad."

The prince abruptly remembers his lieutenant, who is still standing there waiting for orders. He glances about, notices a few icebergs and chunks of ice floating in the water, and inquires, "Do you think we can get to shore if the storm comes, Lieutenant?" The man replies, "we're definitely better off heading for shore. The icebergs aren't as bad as further north, and the prow of our ship can cut through the ice."

Zuko nods his head towards the lieutenant. "PLEASE," he says with sarcastic emphasis as he glowers pointedly towards Katara, "Steer a course for shore and tell everyone to go below deck."

The lieutenant briskly takes leave, but Aang, Sokka, Katara and Iroh stay put. "I SAID, everyone go below deck!" shouts Zuko. "I don't want anyone going overboard," he adds in a softer tone, and gives his uncle a fleeting, diffident look. Katara's eyes widen with surprise.

The prince remains in the same spot frowning at the deck as everyone else vanishes. He places his fingers on his temples and meditates in an effort to regain control of his flaring temper. _A good leader is supposed to stay calm and in control, not get ticked off at some stupid GIRL_, he mutters to himself.

The wind gusts with increasing ferocity as the ship pitches and tosses on the violent waves. Zuko finally raises his head. An irritated expression forms on his face as sees Katara leaning against the rail anxiously surveying the turbulent seas. He snaps, "What are YOU still doing here?"

Katara replies, "Maybe I can help. Despite whatever YOU may think, I don't want ALL of us to drown." At first, Zuko thinks, _except for me,_ but the girl gives Zuko a brief, tentative smile and he knows that this is all he'll get for any sort of explanation or apology. Zuko raises his eyebrows in a similarly unspoken expression of regret and replies with a faint glimpse of a smile, "Maybe you can. But we should first both go downstairs and get something to eat."

When Zuko and Katara return to the deck, the storm has gotten worse. Suddenly, a tall swell threatens to capsize the ship. Katara glares at the wave, holds out her arms and elegantly spins her body around to deflect it. Two more breakers rise and Katara glances fiercely upon them and deftly turns them aside. The ship lurches towards a tumultuous passage between two icebergs. They jump in horror as a crack of lightning flashes on the mountains of ice and reveals how swiftly they are closing in on one another with the ship trapped between them. The girl grimaces with effort as she stands with arms and legs akimbo, pushes waves against the towering edifices that threaten to crush them, and dexterously guides them through the passage.

Zuko grins admiringly at Katara, who glances back at him with amazement and thinks, _He looks so different when he smiles_. Suddenly a rogue wave sweeps them overboard.

Aang, Sokka and Iroh notice the commotion and rush onto the deck in time to hear Zuko and Katara's howls of terror and see the furious waters carry them away. The officers and crew quickly follow. But it's too late. The storm kicks up again and Aang raises both arms to deflect the wind, then jumps on his glider and whirls around the ship with such tremendous speed that the men can barely see the boy as he flashes by. This creates a protective barrier around the ship until the storm finally dies down. Aang then plops down despondently on the deck. Iroh claps his hands and he, Sokka, the officers and crew give Aang a standing ovation.

Then Aang and Sokka's mouths begin quivering and Iroh's eyes fill with tears as the three of them scan the waters for signs of Katara and Zuko.

_(Continues in the next chapter)_


End file.
